1. Field
Systems and methods for treating samples with acoustic energy are generally disclosed.
2. Related Art
Analytical techniques for biological and chemical samples often require an extreme physicochemical preparatory step to enable the desired analysis to be fully achieved. For example, extraction/digestion of herbicides and pesticides from plant tissue may require organic solvents (e.g., alcohols) and elevated temperatures (e.g., 50 degrees C.). This requirement to elevate the temperature of a sample to aid extraction of a desired component or constituent of a sample is a commonly used technique. For example, many environmental sample analysis techniques require thermal energy to aid extraction. Another area in which thermal energy is utilized to aid sample preparation is in microbial analysis; difficult cell wall disruption is aided by thermal energy.
Typically, transfer of thermal energy for such processes is achieved when heat is transferred from an area at higher temperature to a region of the sample at a lower temperature. For a biological or chemical sample contained in an isolated environment within a sample vessel, such heat transfer occurs by convection-based diffusion processes (Brownian motion and eddy diffusion) and advective fluid bulk transport (larger-scale current flow) processes which are inherently slow.
Acoustic energy-based sample processing devices, such as Adaptive Focused Acoustic apparatuses made by Covaris of Woburn, Mass., are effective for homogenization and disruption of biological tissues, cells and other sample material. With such devices, a controlled acoustic field enables repeatable processes to be developed which often result in higher recovery of target molecules. Such target molecules may be, for example, DNA, RNA, proteins, and the like. Target molecules or other materials may be contained as samples within a vessel.